Is there truly Architecture in Guatemala?

A couple of years ago there was a point in my career that I started to get really fed up with where my life was and not sure if I was going in the right direction. I was burned out and needed to get away. I looked for the most remote place I could find and through my searching I found lake Atitlan. It was the perfect place for a retreat from the city and I thought Architecture. But as I lost myself in the culture of the Guatemalan countryside a suprise I really was not expecting popped up.

To get to the lake I had to spend some time in Antigua. I will be posting at a later date about some of the other locations that I visited but right now I would like to focus on Antigua. This Spanish colonial city paved in cobbleston charged the paddles and recessitated my intrest in design. I spent a couple of hours just sketching in the Plaza de Armas. At the time i was not aware the the fountain that I was admiring, La Fuente de las sirenas (the Fountain of the Sirens) was designed by the city's renowned colonial archtiects, Miguel Porres, in 1739. The space is an utter success. People would spend hours around the fountains to stay off the heat of the day. If it was not for the fact that I had a shuttle to catch I could of spent days just in this area. I was lucky that I had to come through town once again on my way out of the country. Quick note to those traveling in Guatemala, private shuttles are great. I would not want to drive in this country and after seeing the public tranportation I was very happy that I spend the miniscule amount of money to have a private shuttle. Back to Antigua...

One of the other places that really caught my eye was the church of La Merced. This 1767 church has been kept up amazingly well. This intricatly patterned facade of yellow and white stucco patterns was the third church that the Mercediarian order had built. The first two had been destroyed by earthquakes. This church is a good example of the style of architecture that came about due to the earquakes in the area. The bell towers became shorter and more squat compared to the taller thinner towers in other areas of less earthquake prone areas of Mexico. La Merced is the starting and finishing point for the famos Good friday procession of antigua. This procession would take up to 8 hours of walking through the streets of antigua during Semana Santa (Holy week).

So there are two of the many things that I found in Guatemala, I ll be bringing you more because there is so much more. If you get the chance to go I would totally recommend it.